Gov. Laura Kelly on Tuesday appointed Assistant Solicitor General Rachel Pickering to fill a seat on the Shawnee County bench left open by the retirement of Judge Mark Braun.
Pickering works in the Kansas attorney general’s office where she primarily handles criminal appeals in the solicitor general’s office. She has spent more than 13 years in government practice, at all levels of litigation.
She’s worked as an assistant prosecutor for the Shawnee County district attorney and as a public defender.
She began her career handling intellectual property matters at Hovey Williams in Kansas City.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Missouri in St. Louis and her law degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia.
Pickering also is involved in a number of community activities, serving as a member of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra Board, the Kansas Women Attorney’s Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Kelly appointed Pickering over two other candidates recommended by the 3rd Judicial District Nominating Commission.
The other candidates submitted to the governor were Labor Department staff attorney Todd Thornburg and Topeka Municipal Court Administrative Judge Lori Dougherty-Bichsel.
